[COD] Newbie's Rise to Power

"That's perfect, grab one for yourself too."

You grab the rope connecting the two bottles and lift them up.

You smiled and agreed, "Okay, I'll be going now."

Su An'er waved to you, and then, still not quite reassured, added...

Be careful!

You took the items back to your room, washed and dried the bottle, and then used a knife to make a few small holes in the bottle cap so that the fireflies could breathe after being put inside.

You must admit you were looking forward to it; as you've gotten older, it's been a long time since you've seen fireflies.

My memories of fireflies seem to date back to my childhood.

After starting school, you've been busy studying, preparing for exams, doing internships, and looking for jobs. You've been so busy with all sorts of things that you haven't really paid attention to the people and scenery around you for a long time.

After dinner, I did some more exercise, then went back to my room to rest for a while before it got dark.

You put on the white robe Su An'er gave you, picked up the bottle, and went out.

The mountain environment is less polluted, so even at night, without the need for a flashlight, the moonlight is enough to see the road clearly.

Walking on the green grass, the chirping of insects on a summer night accompanies you, and the night breeze gently lifts your loose hair.

At this moment, you feel as if you are overlapping with your childhood self. Although your height and gait have changed, the bright moon hanging high in the sky still shines on you as always.

With a cheerful mood, you quickly arrived at the lake.

And there, the man from yesterday was now sitting quietly in a chair.

ch.55: His Imagination

As you approach, you'll see a few scattered yellow lights dancing in the air above the lake.

You walked up to the man, carrying the glass bottle, and glanced at him curiously.

He wasn't wearing his combat gear today, but he was still wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black trousers. He had changed his face to a light black mask, but he was wearing a black baseball cap and even gloves, still covering himself up completely.

Moreover, the brim of the baseball cap blocked the moonlight, and the shadow under the brim made it impossible to even see his eyes.

"Hey friend, I almost didn't recognize you."

You greet him.

"good evening."

The man said to you.

Good evening.

You responded to him, and then naturally moved to the other side of the chair.

Looking at the scattered lights on the lake, you feel a little regretful.

"There are only a few of them? Looks like the bottle I brought is useless."

You thought you'd see lots of fireflies.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the man stood up abruptly.

You look up at him. He had been sitting the whole time. You knew he was strong, but you didn't expect him to be so tall.

"what happened?"

You are curious about his sudden action.

The man didn't say anything, but simply walked to the grass by the lake, bent down, and shoveled at it a few times.

In an instant, tiny specks of light burst forth from the grass, scattering and dancing in all directions.

Their reflections were also mirrored on the lake surface, and the mirror-like mirror doubled the already numerous points of light, like a small galaxy.

Your face lit up with surprise: "Wow...it's so beautiful, I haven't seen so many fireflies in a long time."

The man came back, covered himself with his hands, and said to you:

"bottle."

You understand what he means; he caught fireflies and wants you to put them in a bottle.

You extend your palm to him: "Wait a moment."

After saying that, you picked up the bottle, walked to the riverbank, picked a few blades of grass, dipped them in water, and put them into the bottle.

The other bottle is the same; you did this to create a small ecosystem so that fireflies can survive in the bottle for a long time.

After you finished packing, you walked back to the man and opened one of the bottles.

The man held his hand to the bottle opening and slowly released it...

A bright light rose up and then flew away quickly.

......

You and the man look at each other. His blue eyes, hidden under the brim of his hat, widen slightly, seemingly containing a hint of embarrassment.

You put the bottle back and laughed, "It's okay, we'll just catch it again."

Then you put the bottle on the chair and join the man in the capture operation.

Soon, you caught your first firefly.

You cover your hands and feel it crawling in your palms, bringing a slight itchy sensation.

You quickly ran to the chair, only to find that you didn't have your hands to open the bottle cap, so you hurriedly asked the man for help.

"Hey, can you help me open this bottle?"

The man stopped his grabbing motion, quickly walked over, and helped you open the bottle cap.

Place your hands on the bottle opening, then slightly open the bottle opening with the bottom of your hands facing the opening.

"Like this, make a small opening at the bottom, and the fireflies won't be able to escape."

Because of the firefly escape incident, you've started teaching men by example.

After you finished speaking, the firefly crawled out from between your hands and finally fell into the bottle.

Then, a flash of light appeared from the dark bottle.

The man quickly put the cap back on the bottle, locking the light inside.

You and the man squat by the chair, looking at the light in the bottle, and you suddenly feel even more motivated.

"Let's go, let's continue!"

After going back and forth a dozen times, you finally managed to fill both bottles with several fireflies.

You put the bottle caps back on one by one, and then look at the man beside you.

"We've known each other for so long, but I still don't know your name. My name is YN, what's yours?"

The men were very quiet, not uttering a single word even during the long time you were catching fireflies.

But judging from his willingness to help you, he seems like a good person to get along with, so you decide to exchange names with him and become friends.

After a few seconds of silence, the man spoke: "My...name is Nikto."

"Nikto? Where are you from?"

Nikoto: "Russia."

Your eyes lit up, and you immediately and subconsciously uttered a word to him:

"Davari!"

Your pronunciation isn't perfect, but it's one of the few Russian words you know, and it's the first Russian word you've learned. It means "comrade."

Nicoto paused, then softened his voice in response.

“товарищ (comrade)”

His pronunciation is much more standard than yours.

You smiled and began to introduce yourself: "Do you know where I'm from? I'm from..."

"China."

You ask in surprise, "How did you know?"

Nicoto replied, "I can tell."

You ask, "Have you known any other Chinese people before?"

"You can tell you're Chinese just by looking at you, you must have a lot of Chinese friends, you think."

Surprisingly, Nicoto shook his head.

This makes you even more curious.

"Then how do you know I must be Chinese?"

Although you look Asian, out of all the countries in Asia, he insists you're from China.

That confident tone didn't sound like a casual guess.

You should know that here, you only told Kruger that even Su An'er doesn't know where you're from.

Nicole looks at you. You can't see his eyes or know his expression behind his mask, but you always feel that he is recalling something through you.

After a long silence, he responded to you in a low voice.

"You fit my image of a Chinese person."

After waiting for so long, when you finally get this answer, you might even doubt whether you heard it correctly.

Imagination? Can this thing be defined by imagination?

But you can't say anything, since he really guessed your nationality correctly, at least his assumption was right for you, wasn't it?

You genuinely praise him: "You're amazing, you were able to imagine it so accurately."

Nicholas nodded in agreement without hesitation: "Indeed."

You raised your eyebrows, which improved your impression of him.